The development of autonomous vehicles has been a pursuit of many nations in the recent years. Various programs have been formed to encourage development of the technology necessary for autonomous vehicles. For example, in the United States, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has sponsored an annual program called the DARPA Grand Challenge since 2004. The winner of the DARPA Grand Challenge each year receives a substantial monetary prize in order to encourage participation in the program.
DARPA has stated that it sponsors the Grand Challenge in order to fulfill a Congressional mandate which has set a goal for the “Armed Forces to achieve the fielding of unmanned, remotely controlled technology such that . . . by 2015, one-third of the operational ground combat vehicles are unmanned.” In order to achieve this goal, the Armed Forces need vehicles which are capable of navigating and maneuvering without human control. In particular, an autonomous vehicle needs to determine the characteristics of its environment required to enable it to carry out the task it has been assigned. For example, the autonomous vehicle needs to plan and follow a path to its destination while detecting and avoiding obstacles. In addition, the autonomous vehicle needs to perform its tasks as quickly as possible without committing errors.